LeapsterTV Learning System
© 2006 LeapFrog
Note: See Leappad Explorer, released July 2011. Update Spring 2007: LeapsterTV has be rarely, if ever, used by our testers. Stick with a regular Leapster instead. Designed to let you play Leapster software through your television, this is a game console that is similar in many ways to the original V.Smile (CTR, Winter 2004). Remember that the Leapster L-Max, released last year, can also be played through a TV, offering much of the same functionality. Once you have plugged the base console into your TV and inserted a game cartridge, you can then plug up to two wired controllers into the base; although only one comes with the unit. The wires are long enough to sit away from the TV. The controls look like they were designed with preschoolers in mind. They feature a large oversized Joystick, large plastic input buttons and a touch sensitive track pad. Despite the early childhood look of this device, our testers found the controls more difficult to manipulate than the regular Leapster. That's because a touch screen that is removed from the graphics is quite a bit more abstract than a touch screen that lays over the graphics. For example, when entering a name, children must move the cursor to each letter and "click" using the stylus input button; a clumsy process even for an adult. LeapsterTV comes with one software cartridge—"Dora the Explorer Pinata Party"—and will be powered either by four 'C' batteries or an AC adapter (sold for an additional fee).
$50, Leapster, TV
Teaches: a TV peripheral
CTR Rating: 75%